Rent controls not the answer

Thinktank, the New Zealand Initiative has produced a paper concluding rent controls will only exacerbate problems in the rental market and are a recurring policy mistake.

Over the past two decades, real house price growth in New Zealand has been among the highest in the OECD.

New Zealanders spend significant proportions of their disposable income on housing costs. It is therefore no surprise that the issue of housing affordability attracts the interest of policymakers.

Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick says rent controls should be considered to keep rents in check, and Finance Minister Grant Robertson is not ruling them out.